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Interdepartmental Group on Costs and Benefits - Air Quality (IGCB(A))
The objective of the (IGCB(A)) is to develop, maintain and disseminate methodologies for producing evidence to inform decisions which impact on air quality. These methodologies are best practice for valuing changes in air quality.
The IGCB also provides comprehensive analysis of relevant costs and benefits of major air quality policies such as the Air Quality Strategy (AQS), Air Quality Directive (AQD) and National Emissions Ceiling Directive (NECD).
Air pollution has direct adverse impacts upon human health and the environment as well as long-term impacts through climate change. The IGCB(A) focus is on the appraisal methodology for the first two impacts on human health and the environment. More information on the appraisal of climate change impacts of air pollution is available.
These pages outline the methodologies developed by the IGCB(A) and provides tools to aid their application. There are two broad approaches: the impact pathway approach which is only used for decisions with major air quality impacts, and the abatement cost approach which is used where legally binding objectives are in danger of being breeched.
The impact-pathway approach is recommended best practice but is resource intensive so the IGCB(A) has produced a set of damage costs which give monetary values for the emission of a tonne of pollutant. These should be used when the estimated impacts of a proposal on air quality are less than £20 million and when the impacts will last for less than 20 years.
The step diagram below can be used to decide which method is the most appropriate for a given application.
Further information
- Impact-pathway approach
- Damage cost methodology
- IGCB(A) tools for policy makers
- Research and publications
Contact
Inter-Departmental Group on the Costs and Benefits of Air Quality (IGCB(A)
Natural Environment Economics
Area 3D, Ergon House
C/O 17 Smith Square
London SW1P 3JR
Email: igcb@defra.gsi.gov.uk
Page published: March 31, 2010